Simcity 5

tl8

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Here I have outlined some musings on the upcoming Simcity game. All this is based on publicly available information and a few assumptions.

The Good


  • Curvy Roads and Bridges (Yes Bridges). The grid is gone but there is still tools that allow grid cities to be made and optimised road placement.
  • Better terrain management. You can build on hills.
  • Light Rail
  • Proper sewage management
  • Multiplayer regions. There are both public and private options for this.
  • True Regional Gameplay. You will need more than one city to advance the game but you can share everything from cash to resources to criminals (And services).
  • Global trading. You can trade on the global market which will grow and fluctuate.
  • Modular buildings. No need to always build another fire station, just extend the one you have
  • Good foundation for modding expansion packs. With resource chains and the Glass Box engine, there is a lot more flexibility with adding new content. (Caveat though, see The Ugly)

The Bad

  • No terraforming tools confirmed. This will change. I would expect a regional generation and terraforming tool will be released with the mod support patch.
  • No subways. Again, expect this as a mod or a patch quite soon after release.
  • Fixed City size. They say they fixed it because any bigger and you repeat sections. While it is still decent, I expect it was for performance issues and management. I don't expect a patch for this, but I do expect a mod.
  • No farms. This is prime ground for an expansion pack though adding the whole workflow of food and clothing.
The Ugly

  • Always on internet connection. This is a common bug bear. I see that there are 3 key parts to the connection. DRM, Global Resource Market and Regional Simulation. The DRM factor is unknown at this stage, but I suspect that it could be removed in a patch after launch (but not explicitly). The Global Resource Market will probably generate a 3rd party market and server. I am not sure if it will be sanctioned, but modders will make it happen. Final the Regional Simulation. This is unknown. While there could be a chance to get a 3rd party solution happening, don't bet on it. This is probably the weak point for the future of the game.
  • No modding tools on release. They do say they will work on it, but I would be surprised if it is more than 2-3 months after. The community will probably do their best to create their own tools (Like minecraft).

The Meh


  • Mega Projects. There are 4 mega projects to complete in each region. These include: International Airport (There is still a local airport available), Space Center and a Solar Power Station. I don't know what the others are yet.
  • Leaderboards. You will be able to find the best in any category. What will make this worthwhile however is local leaderboards for groups like Orbiter-Forum.
 

Mojave

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Wow, they are still pushing this game. Well, why give up on a gold mine, eh?

Might have to look into buying the new game when it is released.
 

Napalm42

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As much as I have been let down by other city sims like Cities XL, Simcity was where I started, and this expansion looks good, but I have my concerns.

As I've seen from some delving around, there are some modders that are able to override DRM on Day 0, and while there may not be access to the global markets, I'm sure there will also be a way to simulate it.

The Mega Projects remind me of the alternate win conditions from Rise of Nations, but I'm hoping they are not explicitly required for each region (although I'll likely end up building the Space Center a bajillion times over)

Farms were always an integral part of any city sim I've ever played. Rural agricultural towns that helped provide food and such for the people in it. As much as I love Maxis, my time with the Sims and gaming in general has made me wary of EP fever.

All in all though, looking forward to this one just like I have Spore and such.
 

Mattyv

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Maxis is dead, unfortunately; EA's last attempt at SimCity (Societies) was such a regression from previous titles like SC4 (the best imo)
 

tl8

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SimCity Societies was a mistake. This is why they are going back to the core gameplay model. That said, you can see similarities between Simcity 5 and Societies. But you can see more bewteen 5 and 4.
 

Mattyv

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If that's true, I'll definitely check it out. But I'm not holding my breath...
 

Mattyv

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Looks like I'll be sticking to 4, the Origin requirement kind of scares me.
 
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